Long live the surf mag!

They're dropping like flies. Just last year alone 3 surf mags I used to read bit the dust. They were great mags. Good editorial backed up with solid images. Yet they've folded. RIP Transworld Surf (USA), Surfers Path (UK) and Waves (Aus). Local mags The Bombsurf and African Soul Surfer suffered similar fates a few years earlier.

The death of print media has been prophesied since the advent of online content. It's all about the here and now, no-one wants to wait a month to see stuff in print. But you should. It's better. So much better. Anyone can publish anything on the net anytime. 

But to make it into a mag images and stories have had to survive the editorial cut. Which means someone in a lil office somewhere has sweated away in an effort to sift through all the information overload to bring you something really unique and interesting - whether it be images that will blow your mind or stories that'll inspire you to travel.

Just a small 4ft pile of a few of my surf mags!

Sure, there's a ton of good stuff available on the net, but there's something so satisfying about opening up your new surf mag and leafing through the pages. The shots you'll be seeing are those that no-one in net-land has seen yet. They're fresh. They're good. And they're there to stay.

There's something so much more permanent about a surf mag. You can pick one up years later and still get as much enjoyment re-reading it as you did the first time. No matter how much a shot you see on the net may blow your mind at the time you look at it, it's unlikely to stick there quite as well as an awesome shot you see in a mag.

The stories seem better too. Maybe cos someone has had to take the time to make sure they get it just right, and someone else has then taken the time to proof read and edit it...so you're getting a pretty slick bit of text versus what anyone can just bash out on a keyboard and stick up on the net without a second thought.

Maybe I'm old school - but I still love a surf mag. Nothing against the net - there's tons of incredible content to be found. But a mag is still a special thing. Tangible and tactile. Long may they endure! Cos personally I'm not swapping my hard copy mags for digital subscriptions anytime soon. 

Sure, the glory days of the surf industry are over, and no doubt there's plenty of pressure on the still surviving surf mags to scratch for funding in the form of advertising revenue, but please don't flick off the switch on the life support machine just yet.

Long live print. 

Else what the hell are we gonna read on the loo.....!

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This was a double page spread in Surfer mag in 2003. I remember turning the page and just going WTF!!! No-one until that shot ran had ever seen what Chopes was really like. I just sat and stared at that images for ages. Still one of my top 10 surf shots ever.

At least Transworld Surf kept their wacky brand of humour right up til the end - here's the cover of the last mag they produced.